Med Pearls project issues a publication with key recommendations to reach the Slow Tourism international demand

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With the goal of helping tourism agents in the creation, promotion and market of “slow tourism products”, the Med Pearls projects issues the new publication ‘Analysis of the Slow Tourism International Demand’. The research aims to reach knowledge on the main “slow tourism” tour operators and the main channels of promotion and commercialisation of this kind of products.

Based upon the various actions designed by the Med Pearls project, the research inspects how the demand of slow tourism products is structured in 7 international outbound markets relevant to the Med Pearls destinations: France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and US. To do it, the investigation was developed in 6 individual stages:   

  1. Tour Operators: an identification and analysis of the most important tour operators working along the lines of sustainable tourism in the 7 chosen markets.
  2. Institutions: an elaboration of a database of institutions and entities related to “slow tourism” with descriptions and contact details.
  3. Media: an analysis of the travel-related and specialised media portals of the 7 markets.
  4. Fairs: a research of the main fairs in each market related with “slow tourism” or with presence of “slow tourism” products.
  5. Products: a revision of the main characteristics of the “slow tourism” products currently in these markets.
  6. Recommendations: a sump up of all the information gathered with a series of conclusions that seek to help decision-making when marketing slow tourism products.

Among the main conclusions reached, the study has been able to identify different trends:

  • Tour operators specialised in "slow tourism", or those with a “slow” philosophy, are usually small or medium-size operators.
  • There is an increasing trend within tour operators to look for more products linked to “slow principles”, and “responsible and sustainable tourism”.
  • In regards to institutions, ‘Slow Food’ is one of the most important international association linked to the “slow movement”.
  • Practically all printed travel-related magazines have a website where they publish their latest articles and create new contents.
  • More and more, tourism fairs are having sections dedicated to “responsible and sustainable tourism”.

Besides these outcomes, the research also developed an intuitive guide of recommendations to help in the creation of slow tourism products, how to get tour operators interested in our “slow destinations" and products, a list of the main characteristics of the outbound markets, and design strategies to present products to different target segments.

You can access the different chapters of this publication in our Library and through these direct links:

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